Bali Bombers Executed, High Alert for Possible Revenge Threat

Denpasar - The convicted so-called terrorists accused for killing 202 innocent people in Bali in the year 2002, namely Imam Samudra, Ali Gufron and Amrozi, were executed today at 00:15, leaving mixed feelings for various numbers of people.

Late Amrozi, the smiling bomber

These past several days the embassies of Australia and the United States of America in Jakarta had received hoax calls threatening that there were bombs planted, which would be activated if the Bali bombers were still to be executed. The police went through and checked the whole buildings, but no bombs were found.

On 5 November 2008, Ustadz Ja'far Shodiq, Amrozi's brother, threatened that bloodshed should occur if the execution would still be conducted. "If you want to be safe, stop the execution," he said.

In August, a website called foznawarabbilkakbah.com stowed the bombers' so-called testament that menaced a death of some important people who "supported" the execution of the Bali bombers. Included in the testament were the President of Republik Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, all judges and prosecutors. More people in the revenge list were the Hindus and Christians, who are considered kafirs, and all American slaves.

The police took the threat seriously and intensified the protection for President Yudhoyono. The website now has been reportedly taken down.

Australia, whose citizens were most killed in the bombing incident, is happy that the bombers were finally executed. But hours after the execution took place, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC that they urged countries not to continue the application of capital punishment.

In another place in Indonesia, three of the Bali Nine drug smugglers - Scott Rush, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan - Australian nationals, went sluggish once they heard that the Bali bombers were shot dead today. Their government's failure to ask for the clemency had already put their lives on the same firing squad.

With the mounting threats of revenge attacks coming from the Indonesian Muslim radicals, the Australian government keeps the travel warning to Indonesia.

At the same time the spokesperson of the Indonesian Police main headquarter, Irjen Pol Abubakar Nataprawira, reported that the situation in Jakarta remained conducive. However, high security is focused in some fragile places, such as malls and embassies.

"We maintain a tight security especially at the embassies of USA, United Kingdom and Australia," he told detikcom today.